K Raghava has seen 100 years of Indian Cinema

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K Raghava has seen 100 years of Indian Cinema

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TNN

Updated: Jan 15, 2017, 04:00 IST

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Veteran filmmaker K Raghava, the man who has seen 100 years of Indian cinema, narrates his journey from being a trolley puller on the sets of a studio in Kolkata to a producer of 27 films, of which 25 were blockbusters. In his 90-year filmi career, he has seen the changing colours of the Indian film industry.
Indian cinema is celebrating its 100th year and so is filmmaker K Raghava! The first Telugu film was made in 1931, but this grand old man of Telugu cinema had started off his filmi career even before that ��� as a trolley puller on the sets in a Kolkata film studio. Born in the year 1913, Raghava left home when he was just eight-years-old, after a tiff with his father. Recalling his first solo journey, he says, ���I got onto a train that was standing on the platform and I did not even know where the train was heading to!��� He landed in Kolkata and after struggling for a few years, he joined the Silent Pictures as a trolley puller. Later, he shifted to Vijayawada where he worked in Maruthi Talkies. Recalling those early years, he says, ���When I started off, there was only one theatre in Vijayawada.

Since there was no audio system in those days, the usual practice was to send a handwritten copy of the film���s story along with the film print. And when the film was screened, a narrator would read out the story to the audience! Kasturi Siva Rao was a very popular narrator at that time. I used to assist him in his job and also help him provide music.��� In the years that followed, Raghava kept shuttling between Kolkata and Chennai doing odd jobs, till he found a stable job with the Maharaja of Mirzapur who was into filmmaking, and had produced films like Bheeshma and Palanati Yuddham.

Recollecting how he introduced veteran filmmaker LV Prasad to the Raja, Raghava says, ���The climax of Palnati Yuddham was being shot when the film���s director Ramabrahmam died. I suggested LV Prasad���s name to Rajagaru and he took him on board.Though Prasad worked on just a small part of the film, Rajagaru was impressed with his work. He roped him in as assistant director for a few of his films. And later, he got Prasad to direct his social film Mana Desam,which happens to be Tollywood screen legend NT Rama Rao���s debut film. Actually, I went to the railway station to receive this handsome young actor,who was playing a very small character in the film.���

Giving insights into his association with NTR, Raghava, says, ���I was the ���stunt man��� (action director) for NTR in Pathala Bhairavi. At first, director KV Reddy wanted to cast Raja Reddy as the film���s protagonist, but in the last minute he roped in NTR. This was a landmark film for NTR.��� Raghava, who worked as production executive and stunt man for many films, got along famously with actors and filmmakers from across India and abroad, as he could speak in about eight languages.

���I worked in Kolkata, Mumbai and in Chennai. So, I used to have a good rapport with North and South actors alike,��� he says. After working as a production executive for quite some time,Raghava took to filmmaking. He joined hands with producer Ekambareswara Rao and started making his own films. ���Eka and I watched a play titled Major Chandrakanth.We liked it so much that we wanted to make it into a film. That���s how Sukha Dukhaalu happened and we introduced K Balachander as a director with this film,��� he recollects. Of the 27 films he produced, 25 were blockbusters! Encouraged by the huge response at the BO for his very first film, Raghava went on to do more films and introduced many new technicians and artistes in his films.

He introduced Dasari Narayana Rao as director in Thatha Manavadu and even gave Megastar Chiranjeevi���s father a small role in his film Jagath Kiladeelu. Narrating, how it all happened, he says, ���Chiranjeevi���s father,Venkata Rao, visited me on the sets and requested for a small role in the film. He came to the sets dressed in his khakhi uniform (he was in the police department), and so we gave him a small role as an inspector in the film. Watching his father on screen, Chiranjeevi too wanted to join films. His father came to us and told us that his son too wanted to join the film industry.���

And not too long after that, Raghava was able to give Chiranjeevi,who was doing odd characters in various films, a good break. ���I introduced Kodi Ramakrishna as director with Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya, and this was Chiranjeevi���s first film in a lead role. The film went on to become a blockbuster and that proved to be the turning point for Chiranjeevi in his filmi career. He is now a Megastar and minister too. I am happy for him,���says Raghava.

Apart from Telugu films, Raghava has also worked in three other languages.He was the production assistant for Sivaji Ganeshan���s Veerapandian Kattabomman, which was a big hit at that time. He was also the production executive for the English film Tarzan Goes To India and Raghava confesses to being ���inspired��� by Hollywood movies like Dr No and Sugar Colt. Talking about his Hindi film connect, Raghava says, ���Prithviraj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar,Raj Kumar and many other actors in the Hindi film industry were my good friends. After the success of my Telugu film Sukha Dukhaalu, I approached Ashok Kumar for the remake. The film was remade in Hindi as Oonch Lok and did very well at the box office,��� recalls Raghava.

On a parting note, when asked how films were certified in his days, Raghava laughs it off, saying, ���At that time there was no Censor Board.We used to show our films to the Police Commissioner. Most of the times, our films would get okayed. The only objection they would raise was when we would portray the police in poor light.���

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